June 1, 1998

Name:

Fito

Age:

Seven years old

Gender:

Male

Breed:

Blue-Crowned Conure

Home:

Vermillion, South Dakota, USA

Fito
is special because he is very smart and very funny and he's cool to be around.
He is so amusing. He speaks several words and phrases, and his favorite phrase is,
What's your problem, huh? He always seems to say that just at the right time and
always makes us laugh.

Some of his other expressions include, Gimme kiss,hello,bad boy,mama, and papa. Some of these he picked up on his own (like what's your
problem) and others we had to work at teaching him. He seems fairly
intelligent, and blue-crown conures are rumored to be the most
intelligent of the conure family.

He lives on his cage - we keep his wings clipped so he can't fly, which
allows him to live outside of his cage. He is free to go inside (where
we put his food and water), but spends most of his time on top of the
cage or on the plexiglass deck that Jackie built for him. In summer we
put him out on the deck on a hanging stand when we are outside -- he
enjoys seeing the other animals (except cats -- he starts screeching and
has a fit when he sees a cat anywhere in the vicinity).

In terms of comparisons to parakeets, I believe that conures are true
parrots, only smaller. Their natural habitats, feeding habits, and
bodily adaptations are much more parrot-like than parakeets, but they
don't grow as large as parrots. Their life expectancies run about 15-35
years (while the large parrots may exceed 100 years of age).